The clincher in the intrastate battle was UNH's ability to hit big three-point shots and go on offensive tears. In all, the Wildcats managed to drain 12 three-pointers during the night.
During the first half, Dartmouth failed to produce offensively, shooting just 27.3 percent from the field while UNH shot 50 percent from beyond the arc alone.
Early in the first half, with the score tied at 5, the Wildcats went on a three-point shooting-spree, lighting up the scoreboard with a 13-2 run. With the help of Mike Lang '06, Chuck Flynn '08 and Brian McMillan '08, Dartmouth countered with its own 5-0 spurt, only to be outscored 13-5 over the final 3:30 of the half.
With a halftime score of 34-20, Dartmouth gave up a few more points to the Wildcats' potent deep-shooting threats before making a run at the lead. According to Flynn, the Big Green looked for ways to quell the Wildcats' unseasonable fireworks display in the locker room.
"We talked about trying to match up with their shooters in transition," Flynn said. "We also wanted to put some pressure on their ball handlers. We were successful to some degree, but we didn't do well enough to overcome the huge deficit we had in the first half."
With UNH up by as many as 20 points following three consecutive three=pointers, the Big Green defense forced the Wildcats to cough up five turnovers during the next six possessions, triggering a 9-0 Dartmouth run. Johnathan Ball '08, DeVon Mosley '09, Alex Barnett '09 and Dan Biber '09 led the staunch defensive effort.
With under six minutes to play, Dartmouth climbed within nine points on four separate occasions, but came no closer. With 2:41 on the clock, UNH's Jermaine Anderson drilled a three-pointer that extended the Wildcat lead to 66-54 and essentially concluded the game. UNH was able to knock down 15 of its 18 second half free-throw attempts to finish the contest.
The Wildcats were led by Blagoj Janev, who had a game-high 22 points on the evening, surpassing his two teammates, Chris Vetrano and Anderson, who both tallied 13 on the night.
Leon Pattman '07 led Dartmouth with 11 points and Michael Giovacchini '08 and Flynn each recorded 10 of their own.
The visit to Durham marked the Big Green's 11th road matchup in 15 total games, a grueling schedule for any team -- especially one that has relied heavily on inexperienced players. To make matters worse, Dartmouth still has four games left on its current road trip. According to Paul Bode '07, however, all the traveling is forcing the Big Green players to grow up fast.
"One key characteristic of this year's team is how young and, in some cases, inexperienced we are," he said. "We graduated four great seniors last year and brought in eight freshmen, so learning basketball at the college level has taken us a bit longer.
"Despite the difficulty of our road schedule, I think that playing teams like Boston College, New Mexico and Colorado has sped up that maturation process. Another advantage of playing a difficult road schedule is that it allows you to really appreciate the advantage of playing at home."
Looking ahead, Flynn said, "We need to start games the way that we have been finishing them. It always seems that they get out to an early lead and we have to battle back. Us getting out to the early lead would be nice for a change."
After 11 days to rest and regroup, Dartmouth will return to action on Jan. 27 when it travels to Providence, R.I., for an Ivy League meeting with the Brown Bears.
